Seven out of 10 consumers expected their lives to return to normal immediately, or within a month after the political unrest, according to a survey by Nielsen Company.
Following the May unrest, more consumers indicated they plan to focus on spending more quality time with family (53 per cent), staying at home (49 per cent), savings (39 per cent) and seeking value for money (25 per cent).
"The events of May were significant. Subsequently we have seen a rise in national pride as Thailand looks to recover and get back on its feet in the second half of 2010. This is evidenced by one quarter (24 per cent) of consumers indicating they are planning to buy more Thai products post the May events," said Aaron Cross, managing director of Consumer, Nielsen Thailand.
When asked about their financial plans after the unrest, consumers said they plan to increase deposits in saving accounts/fixed savings (31 per cent), increase Omsin Lotto (30 per cent), gold (22 per cent) and increase life insurance (20 per cent) in their future investment portfolios.
Nielsen's integrated study report comprises insights from an online survey (targeting 500 Internet users aged 18 and above), Nielsen Retail Audit, Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel, Nielsen Television Audience Measurement and Nielsen Radio Ratings.
On the list of favourite shop¬ping malls after Bangkok's largest shopping mall, CentralWorld was destroyed by fire, it found that Bangkok residents visited The Mall Bangkapi (27 per cent) as their favourite alternative place for shopping, dining or hanging out, followed by Central Pinklao (23 per cent), JJ market (22 per cent) and Central Lat Phrao (21 per cent).
In May, retail growth how¬ever dropped as consumers focused only on purchasing necessities.
"During the political unrest, we observed more people eating at home. This meant that more Bangkok households purchased categories such as rice and frozen food. At the same time, households stocked up on other basic food categories, including fresh food, milk powder, instant noodle, canned fish and ready to eat meals," said Cross.
"The negative impact of the redshirt protests in May on FMCG growth was slightly more prevalent in Greater Bangkok than Upcountry. However, we are of the view that FMCG growth will return to normal from June."
The survey found that from May 1321, the number of people in Bangkok who watched TV increased by 23 per cent compared to the same period in 2009. On May 19, when the red shirt sites were reclaimed and the curfew started, the number of people watching TV increased by 36 per cent compared to the same day last year. Similarly, the number of people who listened to the radio in May 2010 increased by 14 per cent.
When asked what were the main sources of information during the unrest, most Thai consumers said TV (95 per cent) was their key source of information, followed closely by Internet (94 per cent), newspapers (76 per cent) and radio (43 per cent) respectively. Interestingly, consumers also indicated nontraditional sources of news such as online blogs (35 per cent) and Twitter (25 per cent) were important channels too, per¬haps reflecting a need to engage and interact with one another. (Table 1)
Nielsen observed significant increases in TV viewership and radio audience in mid May as consumers were eager for the latest news and updates during the crisis.